Joy to the world, okay. What about joy to me? You deserve a piece of that global goodness. Is your holiday joy hiding this year? Hint: It’s waiting within for your invitation to come out to play. Grab a gingerbread chai and journal and explore 25 reflective questions to help unlock your joy.

Body-Mind-Spirit and Mind-Body Connection get thrown around a lot. It took me a long time to really grasp what this meant. Clearly we have a body and a mind, and one can affect the state of the other. But, I didn’t have a handle on the spirit part or the how and why of these connections.

When I started practicing yoga and meditation, and I learned to observe myself, body and thoughts, it crystallized a bit. What really brought it home for me though was learning about the five koshas, five distinct sheaths that comprise your complete self.

Truth rises. So many hearts are bubbling over in these extraordinary times. It’s no longer possible to live under a rock, status quo. I haven’t seen anyone speaking their truth recently without getting seared, though.

As we take a stand in this divisive, caustic atmosphere, where is the path? What are we seeking with this unfamiliar bleeding? The immediate call begs for acknowledgment, respect, dignity, compassion and love. These are basic, reasonable expectations and mark the trail head to solutions for complex social issues. Yet, these needs are going unmet on all sides. Why?

The stockings are hung, the cookies are iced. The blank greeting cards are piled, along with the bills, and the bows and the good intentions, all morphing, as I type, into glittering balls of guilt and stress. Oh, the mid-December sugarplum crash.

It happens every year. One of the perks of being a mindful, middle-aged yogini, is that I’ve honed a few tricks and tools to bust the slump before I get too Grinchy. I’m sharing them today as my holiday gift to you.